Presenting our 3D Printed UFO! With any large 3D print project made from multiple parts that must fit together seamlessly, the fitment trial can be nerve wracking. However, this all slotted together perfectly thanks to Jordan’s great CAD skills and our precision heated chamber printers. The main bodies are 3m in diameter and 6m with armatures attached. Although officially named “Optimism” by Auckland Art Gallery, we nicknamed this assignment the “UFO” project, due to it’s round dome.

These models are variations of patent diagrams filed by Rocket Labs in the last 10 years. It took a lot of planning and CAD time to convert these 2D drawings into 3D parts. Each part is 3m in diameter and required laser cutting and steel fabricated plates. The 3D printed UFO Dome = 260kgs and UFO Ring = 240kgs.

All in all this project took approximately 5 months to complete. It took all hands (and printers) on deck to get this huge job done.